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It had been a long day and with the arrival of the true twilight the soft brown and white lioness had retired to her den for only a moment before realising she didn't want to be there. With tired limbs she trudged, none too quietly, towards the waterfall.

She liked to come to the waterfall, she loved to be near it and smell the fresh water and remember times gone past. She also loved the way the stars and moon reflected off the water. It was a good place to contemplate things.

Settling herself by the waters edge she smiles gently looking at her paws. Turning her gaze to the sky she laughs slightly, the moon cast a pale blue glow over the clearing and with the waters reflection her white fur had changed to a soft glowing blue. If only she as blue, things would be so much easier, she wouldn't have to argue every point she made. She had proved herself over and over, but there were those who still fought with her, she would never step down. She was much too strong for that.

Turning her gaze to the sky the young lioness, named after a sot let out a gentle, long sigh. This was her home and she loved it but this was her favourite place even if it was missing her friend to make it the most perfect place in the world.

Txur was grinning when he finished his duties that evening. There had been so many lions in the pride finding their life partners lately and having cubs. He was genuinely pleased for them, and he enjoyed being asked to help instruct the cubs in the pride's history and religion. It kept him fresh as well as entertained. He liked cubs, and hoped someday to have a huge family of his own.

As a reward for a day complete and a job well-done, he decided he could visit his waterfall. He'd probably have to stay the night there, what with the sun setting soon. Even though he knew the way like he knew the way to the tree of souls, it was not a journey without some danger in the full darkness that settled in the jungle after the sun set. He didn't mind staying there. There would be cool water to drink in the morning and fish for breakfast.

When he reached the waterfall, however, he was surprised to find that it was already occupied, but the figure there was familiar and he wouldn't mind her company. In truth, he preferred her company to that of anyone else. And he'd been in love with her for ages. Not that he'd ever said anything. But seeing her now with the light as it is, he felt an almost overwhelming urge to break that silence.

"I see you," he said, making the greeting into a statement of fact as well.

So entranced was she by the water and the bright moon that she jumped a little when Txur's voice broke the silence. "Oh Txur..I was just thinking about you." She smiled a radiant smile, her eyes full of the lights from the stars. "I see you." She whispers, remembering herself, sometimes she dropped the formalities by accident. Having been born out side of the pride it was easy to forget sometimes.

She laughs a gentle giggle a blush touching her cheeks. "It's beautiful here tonight." She sighs softly turning her gaze on the pool trying to push back the heat in her cheeks. She hadn't meant to blurt out she was thinking about him, but the words were out there now and she couldn't take them back.

"Do you remember when you first brought me here? You know, it's my most favourite place in the world." She was emitting that it was only her favourite when he was here, without him it was just another place of wonder in a forest of wonders. She lets a slow gentle sigh roll over her lips her gaze drifting over the gently rippling pool.

"Good thoughts, I hope?" He settled comfortably next to her so that his paws could dangle in the pool. One of the nicest things about being an adult, he thought, was that his affection for Petra was no longer so painfully distracting that it was an effort for him to carry on a conversation with her. His feelings hadn't changed, but he had matured enough to deal with them better, or something like that. He grinned easily, aware of the way the night flattered Petra without being conversationally crippled by it.

"It's always beautiful here," he remarked, glancing around. "It's one of the reasons I like it so much. That's why I brought you here. Well, that and it was just a really, hugely fascinating place to a cub. I mean, really. Caves, waterfalls, fish that're so easy to catch even a cub can do it. What more could a person want?"

He glanced at her sideways. "Starlight does very pretty things to your eyes you know. When you decide you have time to do more than look out for your brother and want to catch a mate, let the fellow see you like this. He'll be a goner."

"Always good things." She laughs gently and turns her gaze on the deep blue male. He had grown considerably in the past few months. He was taller than her now, and thicker in the face and his mane was full and thick. She couldn't help but admire him.

"It is a wonderful place. Magical." She laughs gently getting a bad taste in her mouth. When he said her eyes sparkled it felt wonderful, but when he said when she found a mate her heart sank.

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she turned her face away from Txur, shying away from the thought that he would want her to find someone else. "You know no one would choose me Txur." She sighs gently and flickers her tail.

"What? Because you've got a brown coat? That's stupid." At least Txur had always thought so. The pride had its official teachings regarding coat colors of course, but in an instance of wilful defiance Txur never mentioned them when he gave lessons to the pride's youths. It was largely because of Petra that he left out that part of the pride's culture, hoping that maybe if it was never taught to them they would grow up without that baseless prejudice. It was the only subversive thing Txur had ever done, really, but in its own way it was worse than the things his siblings did from time to time.

He nuzzled her neck where her jaw met with it in a gesture of friendly affection and reassurance. When he drew back his nostrils were filled with her scent and he took a moment to savor it, but he didn't hold it in or sigh or do anything strange. He knew better and had an easier time resisting the urge to do things like that.

"What you need to do is find yourself someone with a very white coat so that your cubs turn out white, too, and no one can question you anymore." Not that he wanted her to do that. Not in any sort of way. "I have a brother who's mostly white. Of course he's also mostly an idiot..."

He smirked when he referred to Falk as an idiot. It was no secret to the pride that Txur's family was hugely important to him and he loved all of them dearly. If he called one of them an idiot, it was not meant maliciously. He had outgrown that wretched, prickly period of adolescence where no one understood him and everything and everyone made him angry.

Petra shakes her head and snorts. "Of course because of my coat Txur. You and I both know I am not of a desirable colour in this pride. It matters not that I love this place more than anything in the world. I am incorrectly marked."

When Txur touched her she leaned in to his nuzzle and smiled gently. He was so sweet. "Please Txur, don't say things like that. I don't want to fall for someone because they have a white coat, because it will make any children I bear acceptable." She scrunched her nose and shakes her head angrily, pulling away from him carefully, breaking any contact they might have had.

"Me and any children I bring in to this world should be accepted no matter their coat colour." She looks up at Txur, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I don't..I don't want to marry just anyone, I don't want to have to search for someone because their coat colour compliments me. I should be allowed to fall for who ever I want." She snaps pulling herself to her paws. She glances back at Txur paddling out in to the cool clear water letting the moons rays glance off her white and brown fur casting it with a blue shimmer. "It wouldn't be a problem if I was this colour, it wouldn't matter who I loved." She snaps standing ankle deep in the cool waters keeping her gaze turned firmly away from her friend. She felt scorned, like he was telling her if she ever wanted a mate he had to be white. Txur may be her best friend and the most tolerant of anyone she knew but he said the stupidest things.

And that was really the crux of the matter. Txur knew that Petra loved the pride more than anything, and her brother and somehow even the lions he knew doubted her just because of her brown pelt. It was the stupidest thing imaginable. Anyone with eyes to see had to know that she would never do anything that wasn't for the good of all. Every so often he wanted to shake the idiots who disparaged her. She'd lived here for most of her life. When had she ever given them a reason to doubt her?

"Oh, all right. I don't actually want you to marry Falk. Or anyone you don't genuinely love. That would go against Mother Eywa's teachings, and then people might actually have something legitimate to complain about other than your coat color." Also he just didn't want her to marry someone who wasn't him.

"You're free to love anyone you want," he said, rolling his eyes, proving that he wasn't completely grown up in some ways. "I was just pointing out that things might go more easily for you if your mate was white. It would demonstrate to the rest of the pride that you're not tainted or anything stupid like that."

He sighed heavily. "In the future I should probably just keep my compliments to myself, huh?"

Shaking her head she looked back at Txur and smiled a sweetly dazzling smile, her damp eyes capturing the light. "You're soft in the head Txur, you know that?" She laughs letting a long sigh roll off her lips. "Why can't someone like you love me hmm?" Had she meant to say that? Yes and no, she didn't want to damn Txur to a life with her. After all he would be looked upon with a damning eye and he was a priest, priests couldn't be questioned. He was in the same boat as she. Plus, well really why would he like her? She wasn't anything special not like some of the beautiful huntresses in the pride.

"Thank you." She smiles flicking a paw at him and splashing droplets at him. "I'v been far too sensitive of late. I suppose they are getting to me." She would never had admitted that to anyone but Txur. She never even told her brother about the feeling of hatred she felt within the pride.

"Do you have your eyes on one of the huntresses?" She smiles and winks at him. "You know all the girls have eyes for a handsome priest." She states though her stomach crunched in a heavy knot as she said it. She would have loved to have Txur by her side but as he said, she should marry some one white. She didn't want to marry anyone who would wonder about their cubs, anyone who didn't love her for who she was both inside and out.

Txur didn't say anything for several moments, though he knew his silence couldn't possibly be interpreted in a good way. Internally he was trying to decide whether it would be all right for him to take the opening she'd left him and speak the words the way a lion in a story might, or if he should say anything at all. He'd held his silence for so long, it had definitely become a habit, and a difficult one to break.

"I actually seem to have a talent for meeting huntresses just before they fall in love with someone else," Txur said, deciding not to fill the role of a story hero. He wasn't that, even if Petra deserved one. "Perhaps I should let it become known that an acquaintance with me usually leads to romance with someone else."

Though it didn't seem to apply to any of his family or to Petra. So maybe not. He felt stupid for having said it. Something else had to be said to make up for that poor attempt at humor. She had just admitted that the her detractors were getting to her and he was making moronic jokes.

"None of them really caught my eye even so." He hesitated. Now would be a very good time to tell her how he felt about her. But would she even believe him, or would she think he was just saying it to make her feel better? He should risk it, and reassure her if it was necessary.

"I'd rather be with you." He shrugged as if it was no big deal, unable to stop himself from giving in to the desire to protect his feelings, just in case.

Her heart did a few summersaults as he told her about the females who he had spoken to, the females who had managed to walk away and become mates with others. It wasn't until he said none of them caught his eye that she let a smile tweak on to her lips. She turned around in the water and rested her gaze upon the deep blue male. He was perfect in the eyes of the pride, handsome, a priest the right colour. He would be snapped up by some equally beautiful lady at some point it surely wouldn't …

Her thought trail was broken. He would rather be with me? Had he just said that? Did he mean the way he was always with her? A friend, her best friend yes, her confidant, her exploration buddy? Or did he mean…what?

"Do you mean that?" She manages the words catching in her throat as she said them. Her heart fluttered in her chest and her stomach clenched tightly. "Do you mean it really" She bites her bottom lip standing alone in the ankle deep water, frozen to the spot, exposed as she ever could be. Was he saying he wanted to be with her? Maybe he didn't mean it the way, the way she wanted it to? She didn't know!

This conflict raged on rattling around behind her ears. "Please don't say it if you don't mean it Txur.." She whispers her throat drier than it had ever been before the elders of the pride, more nervous than she had ever felt standing at her brothers side. Her ears flatten against her head and she looks to the big male her deep chocolate brown eyes fixed upon him, waiting, hoping even.

"I mean it," Txur said sincerely, looking back at her, ankle deep in water. He had the irrational thought that she was probably scaring the fish, but elected not to voice it. Now wasn't the time.

"I have admired you for, oh, ages it seems sometimes. I didn't say anything at first because I wasn't sure if your mate would be chosen for you as your brother's had been, and then you always seemed to be dealing with so many other things, I didn't want to tell you and have it ruin our friendship. It always seemed to me that you needed a friend more than you needed a paramour, if that makes any kind of sense."

The soft brown lioness laughed gently and looked at her friend. He wanted to protect her? To stay friends but he liked her? "For a long time?" She smiled and took a few steps through the water back towards him.

"I can choose who I like, my brother, well he would probably have to approve." She laughs gently taking another step forwards she stands only a few inches from him looking up at him a smile crossing her maw. She wasn't sure how he felt completely, admire, felt a little luke warm to her but she closed the gap between them and nuzzled her nose in to his throat.

"I didn't think you would want me." She whispers, showing her vulnerability to Txur, felt natural, she always told him when she felt sorry for herself, he pulled her from her self pity parties. He was her best friend, but now, maybe he wanted to be more? "I see you." She whispers in to his mane, though those words meant far more than the usual greeting.

"A very long time," he agreed dryly, with a little bit of emphasis on the adverb to stress the fact that it felt long, anyway. He wasn't nearly old enough for anything he'd done since being born to truly qualify as a long time, except relatively speaking. Which he was.

"And you would choose me?" Txur asked. The inflection on these words was a little odd, as if he wasn't quite sure himself what he was asking, or which part of it he was really asking about. It wasn't incredulity in his tone. Maybe it was just a straightforward question after all. Would she have chosen him?

His question was answered moments later though when she nuzzled his throat, her nose pressed above his major pulse point. Without his mane she probably could have felt his heartbeat. And then she would also have felt how rapid it was. This was much too easy. Something that felt so good was supposed to be harder, wasn't it?

"I see you," he replied. "And I hope to see you every day from now until the end of days."

She let a little laugh fall from her lips and she lifted her head to look at him. She felt relaxed. She feared for Txur though, what impact would it have, a priest and an advisor? And she the one advisor under question. It ached in her gut thinking about it but then the worries faded away and she smiled.

"I have no father to speak of Txur and I choose you. I choose you." She whispers leaning up to touch her nose to his. "We should speak to my brother." She whispers, her eyes dancing happily, as much as she knew she would be with Txur no matter what anyone said or thought or any impact or anything else, she had to run it past her brother. He was after all the future king and she was his advisor, it would not feel right if he didn't bless such a union.

She felt loath to leave this place though and she moved to the shore stretching her body all the way down Txur, she looks back over her shoulder. "In the morning." Petras eyes danced happily, she couldn't believe it, all the knots and aches and worries had suddenly fled from her. Txur wanted to be with her, of all people,